Oranges are a healthy snack and ingredient but you’re most likely wasting one of the most beneficial parts, the peel. While we can’t eat them, using orange peels in the garden has many surprising advantages. Here are the top ways you can put your peels to work.
Contribute To The Health Of Your Compost
A healthy compost pile needs a combination of both “brown,” and “green,” materials. While brown materials such as dry leaves contain carbon, green ones add nitrogen. Orange peels are considered a green material so by adding them you’ll be providing your compost with a healthy dose of nitrogen. And by tearing or cutting the peels up you will be helping them to break down faster.
You may have heard specifically not to use orange peels in compost because of their acidity. They are acidic, however, as long as you don’t add them in huge proportions there’s no problem, only benefits. An added plus is that many backyard pests don’t like the smell of citrus peels so by adding them to your pile you can also keep them away.
Free Garden Fertilizer
You don’t have to wait for the entire composting process to be complete in order for you to reap the benefits of your peels. Instead, you can use them right away in your existing garden soil as a natural fertilizer that adds nitrogen and nutrients to your soil. A simple way to do this is to cut them up into small pieces and add them to the surface of your soil. Or you may want to bury your pieces a few inches deep under it for faster decomposition.
Another popular method is to dry them out and then grind them up into a powder using a coffee grinder. This powder can then be applied to or mixed in with the soil. If you like the idea of using natural methods to benefit your soil don’t overlook using bananas in the garden as fertilizer either, they are just as simple to use.
Get Rid Of Pests
Orange peels actually contain a chemical called d-Limonene which allows them to work as an all-natural insecticide too. It damages the nervous systems of pests such as aphids and ants which ultimately end up killing them. Placing your peels around plants that have pest problems is a natural way to get rid of them.
You won’t have to worry about causing any damage to the plants themselves. Since it is so safe to use, d-Limonene is used as the active ingredient in many environmentally friendly bug sprays. Many gardeners like to create their own spray by boiling half a cup of peels in water for ten minutes.
Once this solution has had the peels strained out and has cooled down it can be poured into a spray bottle and used around the garden on a weekly basis. This solution can also be sprayed on dogs to prevent ticks.
Using orange peels in the garden can help to repel mosquitoes too. By placing pieces of peel in the soil close to where you like to relax such as near your gazebo, porch, pergola, or patio you can lower your chances of being bit. Peels can even be rubbed onto your skin directly to help keep them away as well.
Keep Pets Safe
The majority of dogs and cats don’t like the smell of oranges. You can use this to your advantage by helping to keep your pets safe. There are many plants that can be toxic to your pets. Lilies, oleander, and azaleas are just three examples but there are many more. By adding pieces of orange peel to the soil surrounding toxic plants you can help keep your pets away from them. This can also work in potted plants indoors as well.
Get The Fire Started
A lot of people are quite surprised to find out that you can use orange peels in garden fire pits as kindling. That is, once they have dried out of course. The oils in the peels are flammable. In fact, they actually allow them to burn longer than paper and provide you with a fragrant citrus scent. When you want to have a cozy outdoor bonfire or even start up the barbecue skip the newspaper and stick with the peels.
We bet you didn’t know that there were so many ways to use orange peels in the garden. So the next time you enjoy one or more of these tasty fruits be sure to put those peels aside instead of in the trash, you’re garden will thank you later.
Start Shopping for Gardening Supplies!
The Best Places To Find Free Composting Materials
Many people are interested in composting but feel like they don’t have access to enough organic materials. Luckily there are a range of places you can find free composting materials to get started or make your current pile bigger. Here are some of the best and easiest...
4 Steps to Get Your Garden Ready for Spring
After being cooped up all winter, you may be dreaming about harvesting from a lush summer garden. But before you get there, there’s a lot of work to be done to get the garden ready. Spring garden prep can be intimidating, especially if your garden beds have been left...
What Not To Compost
Composting has many excellent benefits. It allows you to recycle organic material which can then be used to help to enhance your soil. And of course, it’s an environmentally friendly way to reduce trash. But before you get started you’ll need to know what not to...
How To Build A Vegetable Garden That Is Both Tasty And Attractive
A healthy vegetable garden can provide you with hours of stress-busting, mental health-boosting fun and give you and your family healthy, organic produce to eat for months. If you have even a few square feet of yard space, planting a vegetable garden is easy and...
Using Eggs Shells In The Compost
There are many food scraps that people use in their compost. However, there is one that is often overlooked. Using egg shells in compost is not just a great way to help reduce waste but also boosts the nutrient content of the soil you are creating for your plants....
Using Egg Shells In The Garden
Once you learn how you can use egg shells in the garden you won’t just think about eggs solely as food. Their shells are a free way to add to the health of your soil and plants, but they also have quite a few other helpful benefits as well. Here are the best ways to...
Can You Compost Orange Peels?
If you’ve ever wondered, "can you compost orange peels?" the answer is yes. Although there are a few things you should know when doing so. So here’s your fast guide! Composting Basics When composting, you’ll need to include a mix of both carbon and nitrogen-rich...
Using Urine As Fertilizer
While urine is waste, it also contains nutrients that our bodies can’t use. But your garden can! Using urine as fertilizer is free and as organic as it gets! Here’s what you’ll need to know when thinking about using it. There have actually been multiple studies that...
The Urine-Compost Connection
Composting is all about re-using organic materials. And like the majority of us, you probably have been flushing away one of the most natural ways of all to condition your compost. By adding urine compost can be given a huge boost and that is passed on to whatever...
Using Banana Peels In Compost
Can you put banana peels in compost? You bet you can! While bananas offer us some extremely important nutritional benefits that help us to stay healthy, their peels can be used to add to the health of your compost pile as well. Bananas are one of the most popular...
Using Banana Peels In The Garden
Bananas are both delicious and healthy. And you may have wondered after finishing your morning shake or afternoon snack whether those peels you’ve been throwing away for years could be used for other things. What can you do with banana peels? It turns out quite a lot,...
Common Gardening Injuries And How to Avoid Them
While gardening isn’t necessarily the most dangerous pastime one can think of, injuries do occur. Recent data suggests that in the US alone, over 300,000 gardening injuries occur annually. So whether you are a seasoned gardener or are just beginning, it’s important to...
Just Moved? How To Safely Transport Your Plants Into Your New Garden
It can take years of planting and care to create a magnificent garden. That’s why the prospect of relocating or moving houses can induce anxiety in gardeners. Whether you plant ornamentals, or if you grow your own vegetables, having to start over can be a daunting...
Filling Those Window Boxes: Flower Species That Thrive With Container Gardening
Those traditional window boxes overflowing with flowers may remind you of summer cottages or childhood dreams. This particular feature is one that you want at your home all year-round. Container gardening for window boxes takes a certain flair for picking out the...
Why You’ll Want To Revamp Your Garden with Artificial Grass
Installing an artificial lawn is an easy and attractive way to improve and revamp your garden. This is because an artificial lawn is like a real lawn, only much better! Artificial grass has been developed to such a high-quality standard that it looks and feels as...
The Best Grass Types For Creating A Drought Tolerant Lawn
Many of us live in dry and arid places. There are many locations around the world that unfortunately for your lawn don’t get much rain throughout the year. For people who live in these places, a green, healthy-looking lawn can seem impossible to have and maintain....
Garden Drainage: How to Avoid a Waterlogged Garden & Patio
Many locations around the world get a lot of rain. With an average of 33 inches of rain per year, this is especially true in the U.K. where it is rare for a day to pass that it is not raining somewhere. Regardless of where you live this can lead to problems with...
Easy Lawn Care? Experts Say It’s Possible With These Tips!
There's no way around it: If you want a lush lawn, you have to work for it. That entails putting in a lot of time, effort, and yes, money. And even if you are hiring experts in lawn care, you will still need to shoulder some of the responsibilities involved. That does...
Water-Wise Landscaping: Avoid Cultivating These Types Of Plants
Water is one of the primary needs of all plants. They need to receive the right amount of hydration to grow and thrive properly. You can ensure your plants get the hydration they need by watering them regularly using a garden hose or watering can, or by having a...
Starting A Vegetable Garden: Motivational Tips For Beginners
Back in the day, our ancestors did not have to go very far to buy vegetables, they just had to step out in their garden and pick up free, fresh veggies. Unfortunately, over generations, most of us have lost touch with our natural gardening instincts due to the busy...